Basket supporting and sealing arrangement for clothes dryers



May 20, 1958 E. G. OLTHUIS ETAL 2,8

BASKET SUPPORTING AND.SEALING ARRANGEMENT FOR CLOTHES DRYERS Filed April4, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS. 3 EUGENE e. OLTHUIS 8. ROBERT L.DQNKELMAN Y 5%}TW,9/.

THEIR ATTORNEY May 20, 1958 E. G. OLTHUIS ET AL 2,

BASKET SUPPORTING AND SEALING ARRANGEMENT FOR CLOTHES DRYERS Filed April4, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

r" 34 J 7 s2 2 33 O I L I [IE] G an as DU sa 39- D M '0 8 I I6 I L I 52s 29 T ZS/M INVENTORS. EUGENE a. OLTHUIS I, ROBERT L DUNKELMAN THEIRATTORNEY\\ United States Patent M BASKET SUPPORTING AND SEALING ARRANGE-MENT FOR CLOTHES DRYERS Eugene G. Olthuis, Louisville, Ky., and RobertL. Dunkelman, Shreveport, La., assignors to General Electric Company, acorporation of New York Application April 4, 1957, Serial No. 650,598

3 Claims. c1. a c-132 Our invention relates to clothes drying machinesand, more particularly, to the basket supporting and sealingarrangements included in such machines.

It is an object of our invention to provide an improved means forpositioning and supporting a clothes dryer basket with respect to abasket driving means.

Another object is to provide an improved air sealing means formaintaining the flow of air through an openendecl rotatable clothesdryer basket in a confined path.

A further object is to provide an improved arrangement for maintainingequilibrium of a rotating clothes dryer basket. 1

Still a further object is to provide an improved combined air sealingand basket positioning means .for a rotatable clothes dryer basket.

in carrying out our invention we provide a clothes dryer having an openended, and otherwise imperforate, clothes basket, rotatable about anon-vertical axis and supported within a cabinet or casing. An airheating assembly is mounted within the cabinet and means" arepro'videdfor circulating air over the heater and through the basket,thereby to dry the clothes being tumbledin the basket. The air flowsfrom the heater into and through the basket in a confined path andthenpass'es out of the basket also in a confinedpath, sealing meansbeing provided at the ends of the basket to prevent air leakage. Thesealing means prevents air whichzhas not passed over the heaterfromentering the basket,- and also ensures that only air which haspassed through the basket is passed into the outlet path or duct fromthefb asket.

The openeended basket is driven by. means of frictional engagement ofits periphery with drivingwheels mounted beneath the basket and drivenby .a suitably controlled drive motor, which may also drive a blower foreffecting theflow of heated air through the clothes dryer. Dynamicequilibrium of the basket is maintained by contact of the sealing meanswith the two ends of the basket. ,These sealing means are speciallyformed and mpunted so as to provide an inwardly and centrally directedthrust; upon the basket and with the twosealing means acting inopposition axially of the basketin order to prevent axial shifting ofthe basket with respect tothe driving wheels. In addition, the sealingmeans are mounted at an angle with respect to the vertical and serve tosupport and position the basket at a predetermined axis of rotation withrespect to the driving wheels, to the end that .the basket peripherydoes not lift from the wheels during starting or during the abruptshifting of the clothes being tumbled within the basket.

The subject matter which we regardas our invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimedin the concluding portion of thisspecification. Our invention itself, however, both as to itsorganization and method of operation, may be best understood by'reference to the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational' view of a clothes dryer .vention. V gshaft 29 are supported at the front and rear of the casing 2,335,043Patented May 20, 1958 line 2 -2 in Fig. l with the basket removed, andwith certain surfaces broken away and partially sectionalized toillustrate further detail; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a segment of our improved sealing andbasket positioning means.

Referring to the drawings we have shown therein a domestic clothes dryer1 embodying the invention in one form thereof. open-ended clothestumbling basket 2, preferably of symmetrical form which is mountedwithin avsuitable outer casing or cabinet 3. The casing has side walls4, a; front wallS, a rear wall 6, a top panel 7, and a base 8 andcompletely encloses the basket 2 on all sides. The basket is mounted forrotation about a horizontal axis in a manner which will be explainedhereinafter, and it comprises a cylindrical drum-like member having anouter cylindrical side wall 9 and front and rear end walls 10 and 11.The outer cylindrical wall 9 of thebasket is substantially imperforate'over its entire length, and on its interior surface may have aplurality of suitable clothes tumbling ribs attached thereto, one suchrib being shown at 13 in Fig. 1.

The front wall 10 of the basket is provided with a central opening 12surrounded by a circumferential flange, and a portion of this opening 12is in alignment with an access opening in the front wall' 5 of the outercasing or cabinet for the loading and unloading of clothes. A door 14 ishinged to the cabinet for closing the cabinet openin'g during operationof the dryer, and the front opening 12 of the basket itself is closed bya bulkhead generally indicated at 15 formed by the combination of theinner surface 16 of the door and a number of adjacent stationary membersmounted on the cabinet. Specifically, in addition to the door, thestationary door seat 17, the inner surface 18 of the exhaust duct 19leading from the basket, and an annular flange 20 mounted on the seatand the duct wall all cooperate to form a bulkhead closing the frontopening 12. The flange 20 it will be noted forms a continuous, annularsurface around the opening 12 at periphery; of the bulkhead 15. At its.rear end, the basket likewise has a central opening surrounded by acircumferential flange. This rear opening 21 comprises an air inletopening and it is closed by means of a stationary, generally circularbulkhead 22 which is mounted on the cabinet by means of a pair of crosssupports 23 and 24.

vided at both the front and rear drum openings, for

preventing air leakage therethrough.

The clothes basket 2 is rotatably supported within the outer casing bymeans of a plurality of uniform diameter roller wheels 25, 26, 27 and 28(see Fig. 2). The roller wheels 25 and 26 are supported on an idlershaft 29 whereas the roller wheels 27 and 28 are mounted on a powershaft 30 which is driven from the main drive motor31 of the dryer bymeans of a belt and pulley drive 32. The motor 31 is controlled by meansof the electrical control system (not shown) for the dryer, and it willbe understood that any suitable control system may .be used since thesystem forms no part of the present in- As shown, both the drive shaft30 and idler by means of suitable bearings mounted in front and rearsupport plates 33 and 34. As will be apparent, the basket is sosupported on the roller wheels as to turn or roll thereon whenever shaft30 is turned by motor 31. The ratio of the driving and driven pulleysinthe drive 32 is suitably chosen so that the basket is rotated at an Theclothes dryer 1 includes a rotatable appropriate speed to provide atumbling action for articles of clothing placed therein.

During operation of the dryer a stream of heated air is passed throughthe basket 2 in order to evaporate moisture from the clothes beingtumbled therein. This stream of air enters the outer casing 3 throughvarious small openings appearing therein as a result of its sheet metalconstruction. Additionally, special air inlet openings (not shown) suchas louvers or a grill may be provided if desired in the side, front orrear walls of the casing. The air entering the casing is circulatedthrough the clothes basket by a suitable fan or blower means, such asthe centrifugal blower 35' which is driven directly from motor 31.

The blower 35 first pulls the air entering the casing over a heaterassembly 36 which is positioned within an air duct 37 mounted behind thestationary bulkhead 22. The duct 37, which is supported from thebulkhead 22 and the cross member 24, is open at its lower end, and theair passes upwardly through it over the heater assembly 36. Afterflowing over the heater assembly and being heated thereby, the air isthen drawn into the rear end of the clothes basket through a perforategrill 38 in the bulkhead 22. This grill 38, as shown, closes the upperend of the duct 37, and prevents the clothes during their tumbling fromentering the duct. From the rear end of the basket the air next passesaxially through the length of the basket and in so doing dries thetumbling clothes.

At the front of the basket, the air is drawn into the air discharge duct19 through the door 24. Specifically, the air passes through a screenedopening 39 in the inner wall 16 of the door into the interior of thedoor itself, and thence passes out through an opening 40 in the bottomof the door into the open top of the duct 19. The top of the duct 19, itwill be noted, is closed by a removable grill 41 to prevent clothes fromfalling into the duct during the loading and unloading of the dryer. Thedischarge air drawn into the duct 19 passes immediately through asuitable lint trap 42 mounted in the upper part of the duct and thisfine mesh trap or bag removes any lint picked up by the air in theclothes basket. From the lint trap 42 the air then passes downwardly andrearwardly into the blower 35 and from there is discharged outwardlyfrom the apparatus through a suitable discharge conduit 43. As indicatedin Fig. 2, this conduit 43 may discharge the air through a suitableopening (not shown) in rear wall 6 adjacent the base 8 of the cabinet.

Referring now to Fig. 2, it will be noted that the drum shaped basket,when at rest, occupies a position indicated by the dotted line 2 withrespect to the casing walls 4, and is cradled for movement as it restsupon the several roller wheels 25, 26, 27 and 28. The positioning of therollers to cradle the basket is also shown by the relationship betweenthe basket and the rollers 25 and 26 illustrated in Fig. 1. The basketbeing mounted in this manner, as it begins to move due to'the frictionalengagement of its periphery with the drive roller wheels 25 and 26,which, for example, may be formed of rubber, a condition of dynamicinstability may occur which tends to cause the basket to lift from thewheels or to shift axially with respect thereto. This condition mayoccur especially when the preferred form of single diameter wheels areused and when the load of clothing within the basket abruptly shifts. Asan important feature of our invention, however, we provide new andimproved means whereby such lifting or shifting of the basket isprevented. Specifically and as will now be explained, we provide a newand improved combination basket positioning and sealing means which notonly holds the basket in the correct position on the rollers but alsoprevents air leakage into the basket at both ends thereof.

Our combined basket sealing and positioning means may be best seen byreference to Figs. 1 and 3. Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen thatthe front and rear walls 10 and 11 of the basket are provided adjacenttheir respective openings 12 and 21 with circumferentially extending orannular surfaces 44 and 45, respectively, which surfaces are inclinedwith respect to the axis of rotation of the basket and preferably are ofequal width and diameter. Engaging these inclined surfaces are a pair ofcircumferential or annular sealing strips of flexible material 46 and47, such as felt, or the like, which permit the inclined surfaces of thebasket to slide with respect thereto during rotation of that basket andwithout undue wear or heating of the strips. Each of the strips,although it engages the basket by its own internal resilience, may befurther held against its associated basket surface by means of aresilient spring, biased to exert pressure upon the basket in adirection generally toward the center of that basket. These springsindicated at 43 and 49 are disposed circumferentially of the basket and,like the strips 46 and 47, are suitably mounted on stationary members ofthe cabinet. Specifically, both the spring 48 and its associated strip46 are mounted on the flange 20 at the periphery of the front bulkhead.The rear spring 49 and strip 47 are similarly mounted on a flange or web50 formed at the periphery of the rear bulkhead 22.

Referring now to Fig. 3, a segmental portion of the air sealing andbasket positioning means associated with the basket rear wall 11 isshown and is typical of the construction of the means associated withboth the front and rear Walls of the basket. A serpentine fiat metalspring 49 for example, of spring steel or stainless steel about .004inch in thickness, and having inward and outward convolutions 51 and 52is mounted with its inward convolutions rigidly held against the flangeor web 50 of bulkhead 22, and with its outward convolutions free toflex, but biased in the direction of the dryer basket. The spacingbetween the legs of adjacent convolutions, moreover provides aresiliency in a circumferential direction. For improved mounting of thespring, the inner convolutions 51 may be bent into engagement with theangular seat provided by the web 50. Suitable fastening means, such asan inner clamping ring 53 screwed to the flange 50 holds the felt strip47, the spring portions 51 and the web 50 in substantially fixedrelation to each other. As indicated, the resilient action of the outerconvolutions 52 acting as a backing, forces the felt strip 47 againstthe inclined surface 45 of the rear wall 11 of the basket. As the basketthen rotates with respect to the fixed strip 47, it is urged to theright (as viewed in Fig. 1) and at the same time is circumferentiallyurged to maintain its normal axis of rotation as established by rollingcontact with wheels 25, 26, 27 and 28. Thus, the strip 47 by the actionof the spring 49 as well as by its own internal resilience serves tooppose axial movement of the basket to the left and to maintain therotational equilibrium of the basket on the wheels.

As mentioned above, the companion air sealing and basket-positioningmeans 46 associated with the basket front wall 12 is mounted on thecontinuous web or flange 20. The serpentine spring 48 acts against thisfelt strip 46 so that it is held in engagement with the inclined surface44 on the basket. The resilient action of the outer convolutions of thespring thus acts upon the basket together with the internal resilienceof the strip 46 to urge the basket to the left (as viewed in Fig. l) inopposition to the force exerted on the basket by felt strip 47, and atthe same time, circumferentially urges the basket to maintain its normalaxis of rotation as established by contact with the roller wheels. Byreason of the thus described action of the coacting strips 46 and 47 thebasket is held in equilibrium during rotation and does not rise from theroller wheels or shift axially during rotation.

Considering now the air sealing function of strips 46 and 47, it will beremembered that both the front and rear openings 12 and 21 of the basketare more or less covered or closed by stationary circular bulkheads. Therear opening is, of course, closed by the bulkhead 22 and the frontopening is closed by the combination bulkhead formed by the door 16, thedoor seat 17, the wall 18 of the outlet conduit, and the annular flange20 mounted on the wall 18. To prevent air leakage into the basket, it isthus necessary only that the air paths between these bulkheads and thebasket front and rear walls be closed and this is the functionaccomplished by the strips 46 and 47. Specifically, the strip 47provides an air seal between the rear wall 11 of the basket and thebulkhead 22 so as to prevent air leakage into the basket through therear opening 21, and strip 4-6 provides an air seal between the frontwall 10 of the basket and the aforesaid combination bulkhead to preventair leakage into the basket through the front opening 12.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the rear strip 47 by itscontact with the basket surface 45 provides a seal at the outer edge ofthe bulkhead 22 preventing air from passing between the bulkhead web 50and the basket wall 11 to the opening 21. Similarly, the front strip 46by its contact with the basket surface 44 prevents air from passingbetween the flange 20 and the front wall 10 to the opening 12. Thus theonly way in which air can enter the basket is through the heater duct37, it being impossible for cool air to leak into the basket at eitherits front or rear. Only warm air is thereby introduced onto the clothesfor maximum drying efliciency. This drying air after passing through thebasket from rear to front is, of course, exhausted from the basketthrough the door openings 39 and 40 and the exhaust duct 19.

In accordance with the patent statutes, we have described what atpresent is considered to be the preferred embodiment of our invention,but it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changesand modifica tions may be made therein without departing from the truespirit and scope of the invention and we therefore aim to cover, in theappended claims, all such equivalent variations and modifications.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. In a clothes dryer having an outer casing, a first bulkhead supportedwithin said casing, a second bulkhead supported within said casing andspaced from said first bulkhead, a substantially cylindrical clothesbasket having both ends open rotatable about a non-vertical axis andmounted between said bulkheads, a heater, means for circulating a streamof air over said heater and through said basket, said air passingthrough said first bulkhead and one of the open ends of said basket toenter said basket and through the other open end and said secondbulkhead to leave said basket, roller means supporting said basket andfrictionally engaging the cylindrical wall thereof for rotating saidbasket, and annular resilient stationary basket-positioning meanssupported upon each of said bulkheads, said basket positioning meanscontinuously and slidably engaging the ends of said basket,,said basketpositioning means preventing air leakage between said basket and saidbulkheads and holding said basket in position on said roller means.

2. In a clothes dryer, a clothes basket rotatable about a non-verticalaxis and having a cylindrical side wall and apertured end walls, each ofsaid end walls having a flat surface extending circumferentially thereofand inclined with respect to the axis of rotation of said basket,stationary bulkheads for closing the apertures in said end walls, meansfor introducing -a stream of drying air into said basket through one ofsaid bulkheads and the associated basket aperture, and for exhausting itfrom said basket through the other aperture and bulkhead, a drive meansfor said basket including roller means supporting said basket andfrictionally engaging the cylindrical wall thereof for rotating saidbasket, and stationary resilient basket-positioning means arrangedadjacent said end walls of said basket and slidably engaging saidinclined flat surfaces thereon for holding said basket in dynamicequilibrium on said roller means, said basket-positioning means beingmounted on said bulkheads and forming an air seal between said bulkheadsand said end walls thereby to prevent air leakage into said basket.

3. In a clothes dryer, an imperforate clothes basket rotatable about anon-vertical axis and having a cylindrical side wall and apertured endwalls, stationary bulkheads for closing the apertures in said end Walls,means for introducing a stream of drying air into said basket throughone of said bulkheads and the aperture in the adjacent basket end wall,and for exhausting said stream of air from said basket through theaperture in the other end wall and the other bulkhead, a drive for saidbasket in- .cluding roller means supporting said basket and friction-References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,274,714 Holman Aug. 6, 1918 2,486,058 Patterson et a1. Oct. 25, 19492,681,513 Fowler June 22, 1954 2,814,130 Oayot Nov. 26, 1957 2,814,886Fowler Dec. 3, 1957

